States are really beginning to shine when it comes to being ready for pandemics, bioterrorism, and disaster, according to a recent report on public health preparedness. That glowing assessment, however, could be soon blotted out by looming budgetary clouds.

The state of public health preparedness is as bright as it’s been in ten years, according to the eighth annual Ready or Not? Protecting the Public from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism. The report, produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health, scores state health preparedness based on 10 factors, including funding commitment, incident response capacity, and community resilience.

This year’s evaluation ranked 14 states at a nine or higher, while three states—Arkansas, North Dakota, and Washington—scored a perfect 10. Only two states—Iowa and Montana—received a rating of five, and none received lower than that.

“The scores reflect nearly ten years of progress to improve how the nation prevents, identifies, and contains new disease outbreaks and bioterrorism threats and responds to the aftermath of natural disasters,” a Trust for America’s Health release stated.

Still, while the states' headway in advancing public health preparedness is laudable, they might not be able to keep the ball rolling without proper funding, Trust for America’s Health Director Jeffery Levi wrote in the Huffington Post.

“…We’re beginning the slide back to the pre-September 11 world,” he wrote. “If we continue, our country will have persistent and prevalent gaps in our ability to respond to a major health emergency.”

The report found that 33 states and the District of Columbia had slashed public health spending in 2009. For 18 of those, it was the second year they had to make such cuts, according to Levi. In some cases, the H1N1 pandemic helped increase scores by providing dedicated—albeit one-time—funds for disease prevention. It’s unclear if the 2010 picture will be as rosy, with deep budget cuts and lack of outbreak angst, but it is certain there will be a ninth annual report to give us a snapshot, Levi said.

“We feel it is incredibly important to conduct this report because the public deserves to know how prepared their states and communities are to respond to public health emergencies,” he wrote. “We want to shine a light on preparedness because all Americans have the right to expect fundamental health protections during public health emergencies no matter where they live.”